Town Hall Meetings To Introduce New Professional Development Program

Human Resources will host three town hall meetings in December wherein administrative and staff employees can learn about the new Staff Professional Development Program kicking off in January.

The meetings will be held on Friday (Dec. 13), from 3:30–4:30 p.m. in College of Humanities and Social Sciences Room C090; on Monday (Dec. 16), from 2:30–3:30 p.m. in CHSS Room C070; and on Tuesday (Dec. 17), from 9–10 a.m. in CHSS Room C070.

During the meetings, staff also will be introduced to The Learning Academies@SHSU, which will feature training curricula with two tracks: one for staff and one for managers.

“The Academies are intended to provide the staff with multiple ways to meet the newly approved requirement for a minimum number of professional development hours for all staff employees,” said TJ Bittick, professional development coordinator for Human Resources. “That requirement will be in effect beginning in January 2014, and it will be a factor on employee appraisals. There will be so many great courses offered to help staff meet that requirement, people will be amazed.”

“We want to invite the staff and those who manage them to come out and learn how this exciting new program will benefit them, and how they can use it to enhance their careers and strengthen their skills,” said Dave Hammonds, Associate Vice President for Human Resources and Risk Management.

Hammonds also said that the new program has been under development for the past year.

“Staff has never really seen anything like this until now,” he said. “We put the first building block of the program, Talent Management, into place in March 2013. Now we are heading into the next phase.

Users have been successfully searching and signing up for training with Talent Management for several months, and more courses are being added to it all the time. The introduction of The Learning Academies@SHSU will add a whole new dimension, according to Bittick.

No advance registration is required to attend the town hall meetings.

There will be door prizes and a question and answer period about the new program.

For more information, contact Bittick at 936.294.2328, or Cindy Bradfield, senior human resources manager, at 936.294.2329.